My impressions of “Fifty Shades of Grey”

I’m a little behind the hubbub, but I wanted to share my thoughts anyway.

I tried reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” a few years ago. The hype around it was huge at the time, and I wanted to see what it was all about. I’m not sure if I was being a literary snob, if I’m a little too prudish, or if the writing/story was really that bad, but I stopped reading it about halfway through. I haven’t attempted to read it since then.

When the promotions for the movie began, I was pretty intrigued. It managed to avoid an X-rating somehow, and reviews said the movie was better written and had more of a storyline than the book. This was something I thought it desperately needed. Yet, I was still on the fence about seeing it. I decided it was only two hours of my life. Why not see if it’s any good? We waited until the week after it was released to watch it. I’m not sure if taking Brett was the best idea. He couldn’t stop laughing at how awkward some of the scenes were. But I have to agree, it got pretty weird.

I thought Dakota Johnson as Anastasia was wonderful. She was cute and funny and had much more independence and determination than the book version. It was Jamie Dornan that I thought was terrible. I get that his character is tortured by his past and has problems showing emotion, but all I could think was that Anastasia should run away as fast as possible. Besides being handsome and rich, there was little else I thought was appealing about his character. He didn’t come off as charming, witty or even very seductive (at least to me). He was just intense and kind of creepy. I thought he was great in “Once Upon a Time,” but I did not like him at all in this. Plus, I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of chemistry between the main characters.

I thought the writers and director did pretty well with the material they were given, but I should have realized after my attempt to read the book, this is not a movie I would enjoy.

If you aren’t a “50 Shades” fan either and are looking for a great book to film/television adaptation of a romantic story, check out “Outlander.” The storytelling in the books is wonderful, and the romance between Jamie and Claire is epic. Plus, the portrayal of the characters on the television show is fantastic. And if you want to go to the movies this weekend, I highly recommend seeing “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” It’s a fast-paced, funny, action film and is definitely worth two hours of your life!